Tadeusz Różewicz Dies

Tadeusz Różewicz, one of the most acclaimed Polish contemporary poets, novelist, playwright and essayist, died on April 24 in Wrocław. He would have turned 93 in October.

Born in Radomsko, central Poland, in 1921, Różewicz drew from the hardship of war and occupation to create his extensive and remarkable oeuvre, for which he was often mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize.

The poet made ​​his debut in 1947 with a volume called Niepokój (Anxiety) . According to Różewicz , experiencing war made it impossible to write and poetry in the same way. He was one of the first poets who reacted to the cruelty of the times by rejecting romantic ornamentalism and using poetry as a cathartic medium. Różewicz published over fifty volumes of poetry, among them the notable and sorrowful Mother Departs in 1999, whose translation into English was named one of 2013’s Notable Literary Translations by World Literature Today.

Różewicz was also a masterful playwright, responsible for introducing a new type of hero, often without a clearly defined identity, passive , intrinsically unsettled. He described his own theater as realistic-poetic. Różewicz’s most famous plays include The Card Index (1958), The Old Lady Sits Waiting (1969), and The Trap (1982).

Różewicz lived in Wroclaw since 1968, and kept up his prolific career. His latest publication, Kup kota w worku (in English: Buy a Pig in a Poke), was a collection of poems and short prose released in 2008.

In accordance with the law from August 29, 1997, relating to the protection of personal data (consolidated text, Journal of Laws, 2002, no. 101, Item 926), I am hereby giving my formal consent to the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, located at 25 Mokotowska Street in Warsaw (00-560), to process my personal data.

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